IU to Begin New Textbook Rental Program

InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report

Beginning this fall, Indiana University says students will be able to rent their textbooks and save more than 50 percent, compared to the price of new books. IU and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers LLC, which manages the bookstores on all IU campuses, recently upgraded their agreement. IU officials say based on sales during the 2009-10 academic year, students will be able to save more than $3 million annually.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Beginning this fall, Indiana University students will be able to rent their textbooks and save more than 50 percent off the price of a new textbook.

Based on sales made during the 2009-10 academic year, IU students will be able to save more than $3 million annually through a new rental program at the IU Bookstore, according to university officials. The total amount of savings could rise to more than $4 million when coupled with another program, also scheduled to begin this fall, which will reduce the price of new textbooks.

These savings will be made possible under an updated agreement between IU and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, which has managed the bookstores on all IU campuses since 2007.

"The new rental program, along with lower prices on new textbooks, is another step in (IU) President (Michael) McRobbie's ongoing commitment to explore all avenues available to us in making an IU education more affordable -- in this case, by lowering the out-of-pocket costs for course materials -- so that we can pass on these savings to students and their families," said IU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald.

"We are committed to providing students with the widest range of content options and price points available," said Max Roberts, president of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers. "The rental agreement we developed with our IU partners is in complete alignment with our mission to support the educational process and ensure that students have access to the tools they need to succeed."

Under the updated agreement with Barnes & Noble, the most popular books -- comprising about 30 percent of titles sold -- will be available to students to rent at about 53 percent below the new textbook price. Additionally, the IU Bookstore will reduce all new textbook prices, which will save IU students nearly $1.5 million per year, according to IU officials.

"I am thrilled that the university and Barnes & Noble were able to reach an agreement," said IU Student Trustee Abbey Stemler. "It is clear that IU students will benefit the most from it. Renting a textbook as opposed to buying one has many advantages, particularly for texts that are in their last year of circulation or are brand new, making them impossible to find on the used market. I am very pleased that the university is working so hard to find savings wherever it can to ease the burden on students."

"It is great to hear that the university is establishing programs to save students money in this hard time for the university, families and students," said IU Student Body President Michael A. Coleman Jr.

The updated agreement also specifies that the IU Bookstore will seek to be a leader in speeding the introduction of e-books and other online materials and make $2.2 million in capital improvements at its Bloomington locations by August 2011.

After a thorough review and analysis of several proposals from book distributors, IU signed an agreement with Barnes & Noble in 2007 that gave the company management responsibilities for all of its bookstores. The university currently operates 10 campus bookstores.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 775 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, operates 639 college bookstores serving nearly four million students and more than 250,000 faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. For more information, visit http://www.bncollege.com.